28th November 2006

Dear Moon wRiters

“Winter is the real spring – the time when inner things happen, the resurgence of nature” – Edna O’ Brien

Moon wRites is on Tuesday 5th December 2006 at 7pm

Full Moon is on Tuesday 5th December 2006 at 0.26am Thirteenth LunationElder Moon – Moon of Completion and Wholeness, also known as Cold Moon, Oak Moon and Birth Moon This is the time of the year for us to say ‘Thank You’ and to give back to the spirit world.

We have now come full circle as we enter the cycle of the thirteenth Moon. This Moon relates to the Elder Moon a Moon I am deeply connected to in terms of the origins of my name family surname, Holder. Read the story of my connection to the Elder Tree later in the newsletter.As we approach the end of the year our thanks you’s are balanced with the actions of Letting Go.

A time of the year for clearing out and planting new seeds for the forthcoming spring. Everything has its time it’s place, its reason and its season. We recognise the synergy of death and rebirth.Colour - GoldScents - Orange, Neroli, Bergamot, Citrus, Rose and Pine. Number - 13 Seasonal Celebration.

This last Moon of the year, which falls across the period of Yule is governed by the beautiful wintry Elder Moon, representing completeness, wholeness, new cycles and rebirth. Winter has brought us rest and given us time for reflection and the incubation of dreams and ideas.

The Elder Moon is certainly about maturity, about slowing your pace a little and thinking roundly and wisely about the whole picture in any given situation. This Moon’s lesson is one of patience – the patience to see tasks through to the end and of tying up loose ends and finishing what we have taken on. This is an important time for completing what we have set ourselves, when perhaps we have lost our way, turned our back on commitment and forgotten what we have committed ourselves to.

This time of year is ideal for completion.As old things finish, new possibilities always presents themselves, but sometimes we need to energetically clear out the old before this can happen. This is a wonderful time of the year to write letters and send cards. I have always used Xmas to write and send cards to people I have not being able to spend the time I would have liked to during the year. I make it a ritual to sit down and write letters and cards. I always look forward to the lovely feeling I have as I settle down to writing and connecting with people I care about.

The written word is a permanent treasure. Part of our class this Full Moon will be writing letters and cards to those we love.This Moon is also concerned with writing, revise anything you have written by the way of short stories, essays or poetry. If you have outstanding wishes connected with books or publishing or if you want to submit written material to an agent or magazine do so now.Your goal by the end of this year is to finish one significant project connected to your writing.

My completed writing goal is Elder Tree – ‘Tree of Regeneration and Wisdom’The Elder tree has been revered for its medicinal properties and was known ‘as the medicine chest of country people’. Every part of the Elder Tree is useful for something except its firewood. In Celtic tradition the Tree represents or symbolises renewal, regeneration and transformation from within. It is associated with the Goddess Venus and the wisdom of the feminine principle and the cauldron of rebirth.

The Elder also known as the Witches Tree (read my story) has the calm wise energy of a Grandmother, Crone or wise woman. It appears in the Jewish Kabbala and was allegedly the Tree by which Judas Iscariot hanged himself (for it is a tree of justice which demands great respect) and in some traditions Christ’s Cross was made from the wood of an Elder Tree.

Her afterlife branches were once buried with the dead to protect them from evil spirits on their last journey.December 22nd Winter Solstice – Yule Eve The Festival Of RebirthThis is Mid-winter. The shortest day of the year and the longest night is on December 22nd of each year. The night of the Mother’s.

This is the time to celebrate the life giving force of the Mothers as she gives birth to the returning Sun. Evergreen trees serve as reminders of the Tree of Life which connects the Underworld, Earth and Sky and also of the continuation of fertility and life.Chang – Mu or Chang OThis Chinese Moon Goddess rules romance and lovemaking.

Invoke her when asking for life affirming joy and pleasure in your daily life.The Elder Tree Several years ago on a hot summer’s day I had arranged to have lunch and catch up with a good friend. Because of the gorgeous day we decided to buy lunch and to sit out in the open and enjoy the sunshine. Our location a small stretch of grassland near where I work was nothing spectacular.

But we soon found ourselves nestled under the shade of a Tree lost in our conversation about our lives and relationships.I didn’t pay much attention to the Tree we sat under. It was enough to have noticed that although not a tall Tree its branches spread wide providing a great shield from the sun. As we packed away our stuff to head back to work I noticed a small plaque by the side of the Tree. The writer in me could not resist reading what it said.

I read aloud to my friend that the Tree we had taken shelter under was called an Elder Tree. In the Middle Ages the myths surrounding the Tree was that to escape persecution and death witches would turn themselves into Elder Tree’s. There was more about the botanical properties about the Tree, Elder Flowers and Elderflower drink. Not sure why I decided to write the information down and it sat on a scrap of paper on my desk for many months.

There is a saying that there are never any mistakes. The following months and years saw me developing a real interest and passion about the Trees in my environment. I began noticing and spending more time with Trees, the huge Oaks on the grounds of the house I lived in that now years later had grown beyond the windows of my top floor flat. I started buying books and carrying out research about the Trees in my local neighbourhood.

I enjoyed the different Trees in my neighbourhood, the huge Monkey Puzzle in someone’s front garden on Dulwich rd, the huge Evergreen Oak at the top of the hill in Brockwell park in South London and the sight of the pink and lilac Cherry blossom on the trees when in bloom.I was particularly pulled in by the myth and folklore surrounding Tree’s. Again without knowing why I decided to embrace the Elder Tree even though it was a Tree that was of no great height and beauty. A Tree that could be so easily be mistaken for a shrub, a Tree easily lost, going unnoticed in the presence of an old Oak or Sprawling Willow.

I did eventually type up what was on the plaque that day and kept it in one of my files. I persuaded myself that perhaps someday this information would come in useful. A few years later I found myself in the midst of completing the manuscript for my first book Soul Purpose. In the final stages of completion I had taken to writing in a local library not far from where I was living at the time. Every day at opening times I would head for my favourite seat and settle down to write.

On this particular day I didn’t make it to the library at my normal time. Arriving later I found that my seat had been taken so I ended up sitting in another area of the library which I had never sat in before. Taking a stretch following a much, needed break, my arms touched the books on the shelf behind me and I turned around for a few moments of distraction.

Pulling a book of names from the shelf I searched for my first name Jacqueline before I realised that it was actually a book recording the origin and the meaning of surnames. Not thinking I would find anything of interest I scrolled through until I found the name Holder, following the trail of my fingertips I read the following,‘ The name Holder is the name given to people who lived near an Elder Tree ’.That afternoon in Max Roach Park, sitting under the branches of my ancestral Tree, the graceful way in which that story took root inside of me unravelling over the years adding different scenes, to its branches, still amazes me.

This was a story that embraced time, taught patience, modelled the powers of the mystery. Would there have been a better way to have bought this information to my attention, moving me to this understanding of the special relationship my name has to the Elder Tree. This story and it teaching’s showed me how to trust my intuition, to take action when I am unsure of the outcome and to honour the process of the unknown.

This months Full Moon class will focus on Completions and CelebrationsWe will celebrate our end of year with a glass of sparkling wine or Elder flower champagne and a Winter Solstice Ritual. Please bring food to share in our festive feast that we will share during class.What To BringPlease bring with you a list of names of friends and family for our letter and card writing exercise.

A Book for our Xmas and Kwanza (more about Kwanza in class) give away, and food to share for our end of year celebration.When

This Month’s Moon wRites class is Tuesday 5th December 7.00pm – 9.00pm Full Moon is on Tuesday 5th December 2006 at 0.26amNew Moon is on Wednesday 20th December 2006 at 14.02pm Where To Find Us The classes are based at Streatham Friends Meeting House, Redlands Way, Roupell Park Estate, SW2, 3LU. Class Fee - £20 per workshops.

Concessions available.Travel DirectionsThe most direct route is via Brixton. Come out of the station and turn left. Take a bus no 159, 109, 333, 59, 45 or 118 from the bus stops outside Woolworth’s and Barclays bank. The buses head up Brixton Hill.

Press the bell for the sixth bus stop, which is a request stop opposite Sainsbury’s Local. Get off the bus and Redlands Way is on your left.

Walk straight ahead and Streatham Friends Meeting House is the building at the end tucked away in the corner.Wednesday 20th December 2006 at 22.19 – New Lunar Month begins First Moon wRites Class for 2007 is on Wednesday 3rd January 2007 7.00pm – 9.00pm
Full Moon on Wednesday January 3rd 2007 at 13.59. Perfect synergy of dates to begin our New Year of Moon wRites 2007


‘I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just have lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.’
- Diane Ackerman